Actress and left-wing activist Alyssa Milano has appeared to soften her tune after meeting with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to discuss gun control issues.
The two met to talk about how to reduce mass shootings in a way that would not infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights. The discussion was “largely amicable,” The Washington Examiner reported. After the discussion, Milano said that Cruz “isn’t a villain.”
The meeting occurred after the two took swipes at each other on Twitter last week. The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra reported that Milano asked where the Bible discusses gun ownership.
“Can someone cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun?” Milano tweeted. “This guy is unbelievable and is clearly owned by the gun lobby. #NoRA”
The “guy” she was referring to was Texas State Rep. Matt Schaefer of Tyler, who had tweeted: “I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period. None of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent.”
Cruz responded to Milano with 10 tweets explaining that defense is essential to the God-given right to life and liberty.
“An excellent Q, worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter,” Cruz tweeted. “It is of course not the right to a modern-day firearm that is God-give[n] but rather the right to Life & the right to Liberty. Essential to that right to life is the right to DEFEND your life & your family.”
Cruz also cited a bible passage about self-defense and noted several people who had successfully defended themselves with firearms.
“Playing politics w/ these deranged crimes—and trying to use them as an excuse to violate the constl rights of law-abiding citizens—won’t make anybody safer. Forcible gun confiscation (as some 2020 Dems urge) won’t prevent mass-murders. But it would weaken our self-defense,” Cruz concluded.
The next day, Milano responded to Cruz by saying she would “love to come in and meet with you on the gun issue and many other issues that include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The actress added that she would be in Washington, D.C. the following week so the pair could “live-stream the meeting so the American people can hear your bullsh** 1st hand.”
Cruz accepted, and the two actually met.
On Friday, Milano penned an op-ed for CNN explaining why she met with Cruz and what came of the discussion.
“Cruz and I agree on very little. He is a stalwart conservative; I am a committed progressive,” Milano wrote.
“I know we didn’t change his mind on how we fix gun violence in America. And he didn’t change ours. But maybe we understand one another a little better,” Milano added. “Here’s what I came away with that I wasn’t so sure of before the meeting: Ted Cruz is a human being. He is a real person. He isn’t a villain in a movie. He cares when these shootings happen. When people on my side of this fight say he doesn’t, they’re wrong.”
Milano still appears to hope Cruz will agree to do what she wants on gun control, but perhaps the meeting will help stop gun-control advocates from claiming those who still support the Second Amendment are not okay with murder.